Vehicles, such as automobiles, may be equipped with an instrument panel. The instrument panel may provide the operator with useful information for operating and driving the vehicle. The instrument panel may indicate the speed of the vehicle, the revolutions-per-minute (RPM) of the vehicle's engine, a present state of the lighting, a present state of the windshield wipers, for example. The instrument panel may employ mechanical gauges, digital displays, or a combination thereof to convey information about the status of the vehicle.
Instrument panels may be embedded or placed in the dashboard of the vehicle. This ensures that the instrument panel is in a line of sight for the vehicle's driver. Thus, the vehicle's driver may view the road while safely glancing at the instrument panel to obtain useful information for aiding in the operation of the vehicle. The instrument panel's placement is static, and thus fixed in a specific location.
The gauges of the instrument panel may be implemented with mechanical pointers, or digital displays, or combinations of both. A mechanical pointer is anchored at a pivot point, and driven by a motor (for example a stepper motor) in a 360 degree fashion. Based on the current employed to drive the motor, or control signals, the motor may move the mechanical pointer in a clockwise or counter-clockwise fashion. The mechanical pointer is conventionally longer in the direction in which the mechanical pointer is pointing at.
Traditionally, instrument clusters have primarily been analog and mechanical presentations. Thus, a pointer, or other type of mechanical interface may be implemented. The mechanical presentations may interface with various electronics associated with the vehicle, and provide information via indicators and indicia to an observer of the instrument panel.
Recently, instrument clusters have become digital in their presentation. The digital presentation allows for various types of electronic information to be presented to a vehicle's operator or passenger. The digital information may reflect all the information traditionally provided via the mechanical presentations. Additionally, the digital presentation device may also serve content traditionally associated with digital provided data. The content may be news, information, streaming content, and the like. The digital presentation device may be provided with an interface, such as an external operating device. The digital presentation device may also be incorporated with various touch screen technology, such as resistive touch or capacitive touch technologies.
Various implementations of instrument clusters have employed a combination of a mechanical elements and digital presentation devices. Thus, an implementer of an instrument cluster may employ the mechanical elements in situations where a mechanical presentation is preferred (i.e. for cost based reasons or aesthetic reasons) in combination with a digital presentation device. Thus, the advantages and extra content associated with the digital presentation device may be served to a vehicle's driver or occupant, while maintaining an aesthetic associated with mechanical elements commonly employed in an instrument cluster.